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Rene feels... Oddly good, having saved the life of Nahuel, even with his promise that they were enemies from that day forth. Though what she did wasn't exactly in line with the Gerxel teachings of military obligations surpassing one's moral compass in terms of importance, and she had no reason to spare him the fate his comrades suffered, it didn't really contradict these teachings either, she justifies to herself. There was nothing the boy could report that the rebels couldn't have already known. Besides, she and Director Chiffon are more concerned with where those bodies went... More likely, into whose stomachs they went.

Dyrus and his allies continue their spell in Hawk Oasis under the watchful eye of Denim. For the first time in their trek through the desert, they've had time to relax in a town populated by humans after spending much of the trip avoiding cities, so their pit stop in the sparsely-populated walled oasis has dragged on for a few days. Today, though, today they finally set out. From here, Denim says, it's a straight shot to the Vautou stronghold that should only represent a couple days' worth of travel if they haul ass.

Samson is still riding the high of passion and rage he hadn't known lay dormant within him as he receives the a-okay from Fabrice on his plan. Dinah, Fabrice, and everyone else should be getting things ready as he and the rest spend their time outside, with him briefly growing acquainted with those VERY shredded twin bakers, Dough and Knut. Their abilities to seize axes off of the nearby guards, cut them down, and survive to do the same to more still is integral to the mission's initial success, after all.

>A. Be Dyrus
>B. Be Samson

>>47087091
>B. Be Samson

>>47087091
>B. Be Samson

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Shit, IRL stuff is happening. I might be a bit late on the responses for an hour or two.

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(and whoops, forgot to take Samson's portrait off that one)
>>47087132
You are now Samson.

"Hey, man, you're good to do this, right?" Dough (Knut?) asks as he notices you spacing out in the middle of his brother's description of their lives (from what you heard, they inherited a family bakery, sales grew poor because of more popular competition going out of their way to sabotage them, they realized that, being shredded axe-fighters on the side, they could curb profits back their way with a protection racket... And ended up arrested for tax evasion). "If you gonna keep getting distracted, we gonna die."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry... Yeah, I'll be fine."

Knut (Dough?) harumphs. "We're only doin' this because Edwyg said you were cool... You don't wanna make a liar outta her, do you?"

"I won't, I won't. I've only gotten bolder these days." At least, you can pretend to be channeling your mother passably enough to ride out this escape. Figure out your next course of action when you figure out your next course of action.

Edwyg, sitting at a nearby bench with legs crossed and arms folded, keeps a close eye on two axe-wielding guards' patrol around the area, as well as archers perched near the top floor, intent on giving you all a signal once it's go time.

>A. Wait for the signal
>B. Continue conversing until the time comes (write-in)
>C. Get cold feet

>>47087437
>A. Wait for the signal

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>>47087486
After a few tense moments, even most of the prisoners getting oddly quiet... Edwyg nods at a seemingly-random moment, though she did once cryptically say that she has "a whole logic" to the way the prison guards' patrols work, with the recent deaths of Helen and two random guards due to their own stupidity barely changing things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjSW0NCR8x4

Right as Edwyg does so, Dough and Knut suddenly rush towards one, pinning him and swiping his Iron axe before cutting the other down.

The first to be robbed's last words are "H-hey! Prison riot!" You sing to the brother with the axe to cut the other guard down, and from there they take to a section of the yard that Edwyg had deemed "an archer's blind spot, about two and a half big guys wide."

"You got the magic music, though, an' Helen hates all you Holmstead prisoners," Edwyg warned during training. "Even if our fighters get outta the way in time, the archers'll be all over you. Try ya best not to get killed before they bring in physical backup to flush Dough an' Knut outta that blind spot."

Doing so proves easier than you'd expected, and you're able to vanish into crowd after crowd of comparatively-innocent bystanders. Not wanting a SECOND abuse scandal on the prison's hands in as many days, the archers are more concerned with not killing civilians than they are taking you down.

An axe-wielder and two archers rush in through the gates of the yard, gunning for the baking brothers.

>A. What happens happens
>B. Run out so you can sing to the brothers
>C. Write-in action

>>47087704
>B. Run out so you can sing to the brothers

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>>47087769
The brothers rush towards the fighter, Cutting him down together, and Edwyg swoops in and swipes his axe to cut through one of the archers.

The other archer is in a prime position to shoot through one of them, but you brave a hail of arrows to break out of a crowd and sing to Dough (Knut?), enabling him to follow up the follow-up and cut down the fifth of the guards to die in this riot-to-be. A prisoner you're not terribly acquainted with takes one of the bows, but you hold onto the other. Maybe Norman will want it.

"Eheh, nice one, Shrimpson," Edwyg says, patting your shoulder before drawing her hand away and wiping blood off of her hand onto her leg... Wait, whose blood is that?

You look into your right arm, noticing an arrow sticking through it from the back.

Belated in your reaction due to having outright failed to notice it until now, you clutch your arm. "Ow, ow, ow, get it out!"

"Be cool, Shrimp," Edwyg says, stopping you. "You try to get it out before we can find vulneraries, you're gonna have a fucked-up arm for at least a few weeks."

"I've never been... Conscious after being wounded here," you say. "This isn't pleasant."

"We gotta haul ass, then," Edwyg says. "With any luck we can cut through the girls' wings, Millie should already be workin' on her escape with those picks she brought in."

>A. Right!
>B. You're having doubts now but you'll pull through!
>C. Too late to object now...
>D. Who's in charge here?
>E. Write-in response

>>47087953
>A. Right!

>>47087953
>A. Right!

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>>47088197
"Right... You lead, I sing and try not to bleed out."

"'xactly," Edwyg says, pointing her axe forward. "'dis way, bakery boys!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkkw9xB1c0g

"H-hey! You're..." A guard calls out, raising her spear as she and five more guards appear with swords. Behind you, you hear the footsteps of more guards, and around you the sounds of combat fill the air as more and more prisoners take up arms as more and more of them fall.

Edwyg, Dough, and Knut rush forward towards the swordsmen, managing to kill two between the six of them, only for the third and the lance-wielding leader of the bunch to stab Knut (Dough?).

"Gruh..." He groans, recoiling. "I'll... Get you for this!"

"I gotcha, bro!" Dough (Knut?) says, leaping at the attackers with his own axe.

Meanwhile, you run close to Edwyg, who makes sure to stay between you and any given person who can further harm you.

You don't really know much about these two baker dudes besides that they have each other's backs and why they're in this prison island, and you'll probably get to wherever Millicent currently is faster if you just go on, now that the recent deaths of two of the guards and their focusing on Dough and Knut has made an opening for the two of you to break through...

>A. Do so!
>B. Do so while apologizing!
>C. Do so with a taunting farewell!
>D. Tell Edwyg to go back for them
>E. Write-in response

>>47088205
>B. Do so while apologizing!

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>>47088269
"Sorry, guys!" You exclaim as you and Edwyg make a break for it.

"Wh-why, you..!" Dough (Knut?) calls out as he and his brother are left to fight off more and more guards.

"N-no, bro," his wounded brother says, "we gotta hold these guards off! Don't tell me you expected to survive this anyway!"

"Just didn't expect it so... Blatant..." Dough(?) says, groaning, "but hell! I'm up for goin' down fighting!"

Once you're decently far from the doomed baking brothers, you frown, looking back the way you came, and Edwyg sighs. "We did what we had to. I don' like it either."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teT9Lfx4f2U

That being said, you begin to feel faint from the arrow through your arm's constantly-taken toll.

"Ugh... Can't even take bleedin' out for a couple minutes. Spoiled, you are," Edwyg says, sighing and offering you her back to climb upon. "I don' even know why I'm going outta my way for you like this. There should be health and stuff where Millie is headed, so don't worry."

"Where Millie is headed" turns out to be, quite obviously, a room for storing contraband and confiscated items as well.

In one corner of the room, beating back a half-dozen sword-fighters with a worn-looking Steel Sword, is an armorless Dinah, having pushed Millicent behind her to try to fight everyone herself and sustained a few wounds as a result.

"You're not IN your heavy armor, Dinah!" Millie says, concerned. "Stand aside and let the person USED to fighting like that fight like that!"

Edwyg sets you down near an unlocked bunch of chests, stretching out her arms and saying, "find yourself somethin' to make you not die," before hurrying towards the cornered combatants.

>A. Root through the boxes as ordered
>B. Just this one and then you're helping whether you find something or not
>C. Screw that! You're singing to support this fight!
>D. Just watch in a bleeding-out daze
>E. Write-in response

>>47088511
>A. Root through the boxes as ordered

>>47088511
>A. Root through the boxes as ordered

>>47088511
>A. Root through the boxes as ordered

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>>47088735
Alright, your vision's getting a bit hazy, and the sound of battle is distracting you, so your first order of business in your mind is to not just find a vulnerary or a concoction, but a goddamn elixir. Not that you wouldn't be happy to see the former two, but that blue bottle they're known for coming in would stand out much more...

Ah, a concoction is lying underneath these Elfire and Wind tomes. That'll work, you guess, as you quickly chug it down. The arrow phases out of your arm as you relax, vision returning to you, head clearing up and feeling less light, and you look at some of the things you tossed aside once more.

Elfire and Wind tomes... Those would be your mother's and either yours or your father's, respectively. An Iron Sword that bears her initials on the hilt is also in that trunk, and a... Guiding ring?

You consider using this find right away, but your mother's voice rings through your head, with words she once spoke during a day of training. "Using artifacts that can permanently raise the upper limit on your strength... Only a fool does it before they're already as strong as can be without."

Before you can ponder this advice further, you're seized from behind by a familiar pair of dancer arms and pulled tight.

"You've gone through all this trouble..." Millie says, "I was worried you wouldn't see the end of your own plan after they practically painted a target on your back..."

>A You promised to see this through together, right?
>B. You were fading pretty fast just now!
>C. We can pick this back up later!
>D. Dinah's gonna be okay, right?
>E. Write-in response

>>47088902
>A You promised to see this through together, right?

>>47088902
>A You promised to see this through together, right?

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>>47088972
"Hey," you say, turning around and smiling at her. "We promised to get through this together, right?"

"I-I know, but when we saw each other yesterday, I didn't get the chance to say everything I wanted to, and I was worried I might never get to after seeing Marion never come back..."

"...and she'd kick my ass from beyond the grave if any more of our group went with her," you say.

"Hey!" Edwyg says, snapping loudly. "Make out later! Millie, how much hell've ya raised?"

"Plenty," the dancer boasts as she stands again, reaching into a chest and passing a pack of vulneraries to the more brutish girls of the group. "Prisoners have been let loose, guards had swords taken right out of their sheathes... And Dinah's with me, if you didn't notice!"

Having found her armor on a rack in the corner of the confiscated items storage room, Dinah throws it on over her prison rags before finally accepting a pair of vulneraries and downing them before crushing the bottles in her fists. "Now that the riots are getting out of control," she says while retrieving Fabrice's Yotsmungand and a Hand Axe from a chest, "the guards are gonna start messing around even less. Before they were worried about containing the situation without making the prison look even more savage after Director Hera's evaluation, but by now they're probably switching to cutting down anything that moves that's not in a cell."

>A. Then let's hurry and save the rest of our crew!
>B. Then we'll return the favor and gut them all!
>C. Then we need to escape!
>D. Write-in response
>E. ...

>>47089222
>A. Then let's hurry and save the rest of our crew!
>C. Then we need to escape!

>>47089222
>A. Then let's hurry and save the rest of our crew!

>>47089247
"Alright, then," you say, "let's hurry to the men's cell blocks, help the rest of our crew, and get the hell out."

"An' take as many of them out with us, right?" Edwyg asks, raising an axe.

"If we must," Dinah responds for you, "then I'm sure none of us have any objections."

Taking the Wind and Elfire tomes for yourself, you hand Millicent the M-engraved Iron Sword, while Dinah swipes up a better-quality Steel Blade for her combat needs.

Hurrying back down and around, the halls are in chaos, prisoners only at the slightest disadvantage in their battles due to their not being armored. Your songs or magic help give them an edge, and the guards are increasingly outnumbered by their prisoners as you cut on through. You encounter the body of ONE of the baker twins (the wounded one, Knut, you think he was) where you ditched them, with the other a no-show.

Paying it no mind for the time being, you hurry on through, now having an ample supply of confiscated vulnerary to pass around to your fellow rioters as you hurry along to your most important goal for the moment.

>character limit, continued next post

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>>47089502
The men's cell block is currently just as chaotic as the women's one, with guards and prisoners going at it with their assorted weapons. Your father and Adam's cell is currently unoccupied, while yours and Norman's holds both its normal occupant and Lazare. Norman stares up at the ceiling while your father simply tries and fails to look invested in a book, pages and eyes stained with tears.

"O-oh, hello..." He says to your bunch on behalf of himself and Norman. "The, er... Guards aren't bothering anyone who's behaving in a cell, so I thought I ought to use the commotion to provide Norman some company. They aren't paying terrible amounts of attention to who's in the RIGHT cells, after all..."

Norman, meanwhile, simply hops off of his bunk with a rare smile, exits his broken-open-in-the-commotion cell door, and gives his sister a massive hug.

"Gods, Norman, you look like hell," Millie says before hugging back.

"It's fine," he says, "Helen's dead now."

As the siblings tearfully reunite, your father adds on, "you all look well. Adam hurried off to join Fabrice and his entourage... Apparently he's gained the devotion of quite a few strapping gentlemen among the inmates in his time here, which have been quite the able bodyguards under his command. They can take a man's tomes, but not his mind, after all."

>A. Why weren't Norman and your father helping?
>B. Offer them both class-appropriate weapons
>C. Only bring one of them along, have the other wait here until the fighting's done (specify which)
>D. Tell them to wait in here until the commotion completely dies
>E. Write-in response

>>47089567
>B. Offer them both class-appropriate weapons

>>47089567
>B. Offer them both class-appropriate weapons

>>47089567
>B. Offer them both class-appropriate weapons

>>47089662
You hand your father one of the Wind tomes, which he examines the inside of a moment, before handing it back and holding out his hand for another. "Er, that one's not mine. That other wind tome you have, could I see it?"

"Uh... Sure," you say, giving him the other functionally-identical magic book.

Looking inside it, he smiles and nods. "Yes, I sign all of my own copies of tomes on the backmost inner cover so I don't misplace them. See here?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAey5FpRgrc

"Yeah, I see, dad," you say, happy to see him briefly smile again after the other night. The grin passes, however, and you can tell by the look in his eye that he's pondering the taking of lives.

You decide to leave him to it, not feeling the time is right for another father-son philosophical discussion. Instead, you nudge Norman with an Iron Bow and several arrows you swiped from the confiscated item rooms, knowing he'll get the idea. If there's anything that comes natural to the younger brother, it's "hit with arrow."

That being settled, you hurry off further into the cell block.

Though sublevel 2's purpose was just abolished by Director Hera, the floor itself didn't simply disappear. About 16 guards, four with swords, five with axes, five with lances, and two healers, surround Adam and four young men with swords, who themselves surround and protect Fabrice, all of which is happening in the same massive candle-heavy room in which your mother died.

"What's the plan, Shrimp?" Edwyg whispers as you peer in at the scene.

>A. Toss Fabrice his tome and call it a day
>B. Charge!
>C. You, your father, and Norman start picking them off from a distance
>D. See what happens
>E. Leave them be and move on
>F. Write-in action

>>47089921
>C. You, your father, and Norman start picking them off from a distance

>>47089921
>C. You, your father, and Norman start picking them off from a distance

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>>47090001
"Father, Norman," you say to your fellow ranged attackers, "let's get on this. Dinah and Edwyg, keep people from sneaking up on us. Millicent, dance if someone needs that extra boost."

Everyone nods, and you immediately crack open an Elfire and bring a man down in flames just as he was about to impale one of Fabrice's new buddies. Norman shoots one of the healers, and your father, after quite a bit of hesitation, brings himself to cut through an axe-user with Wind. Millie dances for her brother, leading him to shoot the second.

The disturbance is enough to surprise the attackers and allow Adam and the quartet to strike through another five with ease, including a lance-user and all remaining axe-fighters

You hear the clanging of an Iron Sword failing to pierce Dinah's armor behind you, as well as guards screaming in pain as axe and sword gut through them, leaving you glad you had people on your back.

The remaining fighters still focus on Fabrice's bunch, the swordsmen clashing with swordsmen before the remaining spear-fighters cut through two of them, only to meet the business end of Adam's axe.

Another few rounds from your ranged attacks leads to Adam, Fabrice, and the surviving two hurrying upstairs, the dark mage accepting his Yotsmungand tome from Dinah at one point.

"Grh, don't look at me, darlings," Fabrice says, his face not currently being caked in makeup, instead revealing naturally not-perfect facial features. "I haven't had access to my makeup or skin products in DAYS..."

>A. He looks fine
>B. Can we just move on
>C. Two people just died for him!
>D. He can get more later!
>E. Write-in response
>F. ...

>>47090268
>A. He looks fine

>>47090268
>C. Two people just died for him!

>>47090359
I would think since that /qst/ is still a trail board, quests do not need to go there yet, Anon.

>>47090426
You're telling me that the board made specifically to contain quests... wasn't built to contain quests?

>>47090345
>>47090338
"You look fine, Fabrice," you say, a bit bewildered at his priorities here.

"Oh, you really mean it, Sam~?" He asks.

"H-he's just telling you to reconsider your priorities!" Millie huffs. "It's not a come-on!"

"Besides, two men just DIED for your sake, Fabrice. Have a little-Ow!" You recoil and rub the back of your head.

"Don't be a hypocrite," Edwyg says, hand raised slightly. You deduce that she just thumped you. "Dough an' Knut went out just the same."

"Wait, Dough and Knut are dead?" One of the two unfamiliar swordsmen asks.

"Oh, no, I was gonna ask about their quiche recipe..." The other says, dejectedly.

"Let's avenge 'em!" They both blurt out simultaneously, high-fiving and fist-pumping before raising their swords.

That being settled, the lot of you decide that now is the time to make a break for the island's ports.

"The way I see it," Fabrice says, "we could go about this a couple different ways..."

>A. Make a break for it RIGHT NOW with just the lot of us currently here
>B. Stick around and gather an army of prisoners

>>47090473
>B. Stick around and gather an army of prisoners

>>47090473
>B. Stick around and gather an army of prisoners
Prison riot arc go!

>>47090458
It's not so much what its purpose is so much as the fact that I, like many other QMs, are very lukewarm about /qst/'s general existence for plenty of reasons, not the least of which is a sense of spite towards antiquesters thinking they've "won" something.

I, for one, just don't think the slower pace of /qst/ suits my quests well, on top of thinking it was a rather unnecessary add-on to address a nonexistent epidemic. I actually put quite a bit of consideration into whether or not I should migrate before deciding against it for the time being.

>>47090473
>A. Make a break for it RIGHT NOW with just the lot of us currently here

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>>47090503
"We started this fire," you say, resolutely, "so we're not leaving until it goes out."

"Aptly said," Fabrice says, "though I would rather begone sooner than later myself... I suppose we will do the right thing and oversee this hell we've raised."

Within a few hours, the operation goes from an underdog story of prisoners overpowering their captors to "hunt down anyone in a guard's uniform who won't surrender."

Your father won't stand for your fellow inmates taking out their spite on those who refuse to fight back, and you and your friends decide to give the man a break and enforce this policy among the prisoners to the best of your ability.

Quickly after you try to rein in the prisoners, some of them form a rival group of their own would-be mutineers who take to attempting to execute any and all former Dalshin staff, and you spend awhile trying to track down their leader.

Eventually, this leads to a face you'd thought dead and gone firmly grasping your shoulder and turning you around, glaring with familiar eyes.

"...Knut?" You ask.

"It's Dough, you dick!" He declares. "Here's Mr. Avenger, out to SAVE lives all of a sudden! Well, ya shithead, save my brother!" He shoves you to the ground, axe raised and full of rage. "Right, you can't, 'cuz you abandoned him!"

>A. Attack back!
>B. Agree to let him at the ex-guards. You weren't all that invested in saving them anyway.
>C. Try to talk him down (write-in dialogue)
>D. Write-in action

>>47090745
Vote time renewed.

>>47090955
I want to talk him down but I don't know what to say.

>>47090973
'tis the difficulty of situations like this.

>>47090745
>C."I'm very sorry for the death of your brother but you need to understand. It's a madhouse here! I couldn't save everyone. I lost...family as well so I can feel your anger."
If he doesn't buy that then sand into the eyes.

>>47090745
Something something meaningless slaughter won't bring your brother back.

>>47091089
"Look, Dough, I'm... Terribly sorry about your brother, but I need you to understand-"

He swings his axe down, and you roll out of the way, backing up and standing up as he picks it back up.

"This was a madhouse, a violent hellscape, and I was focused on protecting my own loved ones..."

"So you abandoned us!" He shouts, taking another swing, which you again barely dodge.

"If I hadn't, two of my own friends might have died! I've lost family as well, and when it happened, I was furious... All that was on my mind was making sure every single guard in this place bled and died. But that's... Not the way."

"Don't get moral on me now, beardy!" He shouts, taking another swing. "A lotta people lost someone in this line of work."

"So why sacrifice more? Is it to spite me? I bet you'd have found another excuse to want my head on a pike if my father didn't clear my head."

"..."

"I saw what you did to the guards you were fighting. You've gotten your revenge. Further squabbles like this will only make it easier for the Empire to kill us all, and letting more guards die just motivates everyone else further. The way they are now, we might... Negotiate with their heads, or something else. You were a businessman, right? Be pragmatic."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX69vYXL0_g

"...my brother had more of a head for numbers," Dough says, outright dropping his axe. "But... What the hell. I'll talk to the boys."

"I'm glad we could reach an agreement," you say, holding out a hand and wincing when it's actually grabbed and shaking.

"But we're not friends, alright? Never gonna be, and soon as we got no more reason to talk, I never wanna see your face again."

>A. Understood
>B. Guess you'll need to come up with more reasons
>C. You couldn't agree more
>D. Sure, but that might take awhile...
>E. ...
>F. Write-in response

>>47091238
>A. Understood

>>47091238
>A. Understood
Can we be pen pals?

>>47091313
"Understood," you say.

"Good," Dough responds, and you clutch your hand in pain for a little while.

Feeling like being clever, you ask, "can we be pen pals..?"

Dough simply glares, picks up his axe, and walks out.

You never hear another word about these "gut the prisoners" demands.

That being said, you and your "official" group members sit in a meeting room once the dust has cleared, talking over your next course of action.

"With all these men and women suddenly at our disposal and with quite the bone to pick with the empire, it would be a cinch to sail back to Holmstead and reclaim it."

"Aye," Adam says, shaking his head, "but not all sea-dogs are as noble as me brothers-in-arms of Alfred's crew... Though I guess Alfred ain't quite the noble soul I thought him t'be as it is."

"Hm?" Norman asks.

"That Imperial archer lass from the other day," Adam explains. "She came to fancy him an' gave him a job. Never thought ol' Alfred the type to fall for a pretty face... Anyway, point is, we cannot trust these folks with Holmstead's future unless we want t'turn it into a criminal haven."

"Hey, what about the islands?" Edwyg asks. "We gotta take this place back, ya know?"

You hear knocking on the door of the meeting room, followed by an assertion of authority by coming in anyway.

>character limit, continued next post

>>47091488
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFVME6qJAsc

A small, middle-aged man with glasses, a prominent bald spot on his silver hair, clad in prisoners' garb, walks in with arms folded, accompanied by those two swordsguys. The scent of fresh lemon fills the room.

"Pardon my intrusion," he says, "but it sounds like you've got a bit of a dilemma on yer' hands..."

"Urgh, you," Fabrice says, rubbing his temples as Adam rolls his eyes.

"...I'm sorry, who are you?" Dinah asks.

"Oswald Dory," he answers. "Known 'round these parts as a smuggler by trade. I've just been taking a bit of a breather behind bars, ya know?"

"Where the hell were you when we needed weapons, Dory?" Edwyg asks.

"I'm afraid Director Hera's surprise visit put a damper on my operations," he answers. "That being said, perhaps I could be of assistance in you good, moral lot... Having your cake and eating it as well. As well as making up for my failure to provide in this noble uprising, ya know? I got a lotta ships with my name on them, y'see."

>A. You're listening
>B. Get to the point or get thrown out
>C. You're not hearing a word from him
>D. Write-in response
>E. ...

>>47091537
>A. You're listening

>>47091537
>A. You're listening

>>47091556
"Go on," you say, intently.

"See, word 'round the continent is things are going down South for the Empire, not just here but everywhere. The old Director of the Coast died, the coastline's pretty much all rebel territory, Central is up in arms, they can't capture the last independent territory for crap... An' of course, they drove out the slavers. I think my traders and I could knock 'em outta these islands without too much trouble, keep it outta your minds."

"So you're asking us to... Sit back and let you handle the islands, Oswald?" Lazare asks.

"You've just admitted to being the head of a smuggling operation!" Millicent says, slamming her hands on the table. "One of the few good things the Empire has done is make it so crimelords couldn't run this archipelago, and you expect us to just..."

"Whoa, hey, hey, firebrand, settle," Oswald says, raising his hands. "Who says I won't go legit? I'm just sayin' that, with the Coastal forces weakened, my people can take over and keep the peace, maybe get these folks here on Fort Dalshin into some real jobs now that they've all been freed. Put years of pent-up aggression to good use."

"But where's that leave us?" Edwyg says. "These guys're my ticket to the mainland once the war ends, Dory."

"Why wait?" He asks with a hearty chuckle. "I could have you on a boat to Noba by the end of the week. They're slowly making headway into ripping Holmstead outta the hands of the Empire, and you could have front-row tickets to retakin' the place. And after that, I won't ask for anything. Call it thanks for gettin' me outta here."

"It is rather tempting..." Fabrice says, "if we can trust you."

"I've been tried for many things," Oswald says, "but I've never been one to go back on my word."

"Putting the archipelago's fate in Mr. Dory here's hands..." Your father says contemplatively.

>A. Agreed
>B. You can't trust him
>C. You'll keep fighting in the islands
>D. You'll ALL go to Holmstead
>E. Write-in

What do you want to do, my dudes? I kind of don't trust him.

>>47091846
I don't either, but at the same time. I'm not sure if I care. We could leave him and he becomes the problem of someone with a vested interest in the islands and Samson gets to go home. But, on the other hand, Samson is starting to show signs of caring about what happens, even if his mother is gone. Also his mother would so not approve of Samson fucking off and leaving everything in thehands of a smuggler.

>>47091748
>C. You'll keep fighting in the islands
>>47091884
I'll vote to stay.

File: Magefighter.gif (932 B, 48x64)

932 B GIF

>>47091922
"Mr. Dory," you speak up, cutting the chatter of the room. "I won't decline your gracious offer for assistance, but to be quite frank... I won't feel comfortable leaving the archipelago in your hands."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62LI-8UtIbU

"...come again, boy?" He asks. "I'm a trifle deaf in this ear. It sounds like you don't trust me."

"Oh, that's not it at all," you lie, quite blatantly, channeling your mother's confidence. "My mother would simply have our heads if we were to just turn tail and run after getting hauled all the way out here. Holmstead is a losing front for the Imperials, while they still have quite a bit of pull out here."

"I see... Then you'll work alongside me?" He asks. "Sorry for assuming the worst of you, then."

"Hardly a problem," you say, "but... I was the one who organized this jailbreak, talked down violent mutineers... And you waltz in and demand to take charge of the rebellion out here."

"My resources speak for themselves," Oswald says, slightly bewildered.

"Well," you say, "you're acting as agents of the anti-Coastal Gerxel resistance by standing against the Empire, and my friends and I have seniority as founding members alongside the late Lady Marion."

>Character limit, continued next post

>>47092149
"...so you assume I'm going to bear your flag," Oswald says, huffing slightly. "How... Presumptuous. I mean, now I've gotten this idea in my head of running a resistance movement..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B4drTUy0f4

"Are we going to have another mutiny on our hands?" Dinah asks. "We'll stop it just as easily!"

"Ohoho..." Oswald says. "Hardly. I'll simply be putting my own business in my own hands... I was hoping we might work towards a common goal of eliminating those Imperials, but if I can't roll with things my way... Our factions will be unable to merge. I'm afraid the Dory Trade Company's services will be kept to themselves... I'll be kind, though, and leave you and any loyalists the prison boats when I depart. I prefer to sail in style anyway."

While Oswald Dory owned maybe 20-30 of the prisoners of Fort Dalshin, that's still about a fifth of your forces. When he and his own men departed, he kept his word, leaving all of the island's boats untampered and most of its weapons unpilfered, but you, your friends, and your remaining small army of prisoners fear that you've added a powerful third party into an already complex war.

Thankfully, though, you've had to do quite your share of fighting, singing, and diplomacying in the past several hours, enough to rise you countless... "levels," as a red knight of Noba might call them in more abstract terms. While keeping your penchance for magical song and dance, you eye the Guiding Ring you found awhile ago, what to make of your future.

>A. Sage: By your side and in your genes is a kindly philosopher who wishes for the world to heal. Take up staves for the sake of the living.
>B. Mage Fighter: In you boils the blood of a once-great swordswoman not bound to magic alone. Learn the way of the blade in memory of the dead.
(any option will retain Singing abilities)

>>47092243
>A. Sage: By your side and in your genes is a kindly philosopher who wishes for the world to heal. Take up staves for the sake of the living.

>>47092243
>B. Mage Fighter: In you boils the blood of a once-great swordswoman not bound to magic alone. Learn the way of the blade in memory of the dead.
Honestly, I think this is the path Samson is starting to walk down.
Also, I hope all this leadering doesn't stop Samson from writing the great Teegian novel.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>47092295
>>47092309
It feels slightly odd to leave such a decision to the dice, but at least I have a good idea about how either option will influence his arc without it seeming too out-of-the-blue.

>>47092411
The dead tell no tales, they say, but poetry and prose can immortalize their spirits.

You've gained insight into King Augustus Noba, into Raleigh, into your mother, that you never would have expected normally.

A woman you'd thought you could barely tolerate, who always seemed disappointed in you, who often forgot to feed your cat because she was too busy drinking the morning away, became your greatest teacher.

Your weakness with a sword caused her final request to be denied, and she became a deadlord.

You must learn from the dead, let them live on in you and in their effects on others. Learn from why they were killed, and set out to prevent it from happening again.

After all you've seen and experienced in such a short time, you begin to doubt that healing will ever be possible for you... But you don't mind. The pain of scars fade. but the memories stay with you for your life.

Marion, for all her flaws, was an inspiration to the people surrounding her, and you choose to follow suit in her style of fighting as you record what you know of her life. Your interest in carrying on the spirits of the dead only drives you to complete Raleigh's writings and then publish some of your own.

The guiding ring helps you learn the way of the sword quickly, and you find a shiny Iron Sword to call your own soon enough.

You're feeling more and more like a leader every second now.

Your father is driven to tears by the sight of you becoming a mage fighter, but he understands, he says.

Dinah and Millicent gain a new partner in practicing swordplay, and speaking of the latter, all of this thought of carrying on people's spirits, and as a result how suddenly death can come, how lucky you are to know someone, anyone at all...

>A. Distances the two of you
>B. Convinces you to properly confess feelings
>C. Leads to a quite sudden proposal
>D. Changes little in your unstated dynamic

>>47092588
>D. Changes little in your unstated dynamic

>>47092588
>B. Convinces you to properly confess feelings

>>47092588
>B. Convinces you to properly confess feelings
You never know what could happen. Don't want to regret not saying it if we die.

>>47092662
After one of these evenings of practice, onboard a boat setting sail towards one of the major islands of the archipelago, you finally have a conversation that's probably long, LONG overdue.

"Er... Millicent," you say, clearing your throat and reverting to your awkward scholarly self.

"...yeah, Sam?" She asks, sitting by your side.

"I, uh... Think we've got to... Work some things out. Er, unstated things that... Shouldn't be unstated."

"Un-unstated?" She asks with a grin.

"Eheh, yeah... Er, basically, Millie, I just... We've said we would pull through all of this together, right?"

"Yeah," she says, "of course! Were you planning on not?"

"Of course not!" You answer. "I just... Wanted to be clear we were on the same wavelength about what that means..."

"I... Think we might be, but yeah, let's get it out in the open anyway," she says.

"Right, right..." You close your eyes and sigh. "I love you, Millicent. Your spirit has just... Captivated me, and I want to stay by your side."

Leaning up against you, Millie nods. "I love you too, Samson... I just sort of figured we both knew that already, but it still feels amazing to just. Say it, you know?"

"Then let's say it a few more times!" You say, slightly too excited at the prospect.

>To be continued next thread
Again, not much to say here. Coastal 776 gets a bit more complicated, but also everyone involved gets a massive buff in levels. Unless Lazare was able to promote, Samson path is still comically devoid of staffbots.

Thanks for playing, as always. Update twitter/ask.fm are qmgrandflocto, and I'll be around in-thread to chat for awhile.

>>47092907
Thanks for running.

>>47092945
Always a pleasure.

>>47092907
Thanks for running!
Also, it looks like we have finally completed the weapon triangle with the protagonists

>>47093063
Eyup. Not to mention the bows/tomes/inevitability that Dyrus will learn staves.